Is Marvel’s Next Movie ‘The Black Panther?’

A new report claims that the African superhero might finally get his own movie after 20 years in development hell.

The Black Panther might finally be catching his big break in the film industry. 20 years after Wesley Snipes first fueled the flames of a possible movie adaptation of the African superhero, Marvel Studios might finally be getting around to giving T'Challa his own film. Latino Review claims that four separate sources have confirmed, albeit off the official record, that The Black Panther will be Marvel's next non-sequel superhero movie.

Which is awesome.

Considered the first black supehero in Marvel comics, The Black Panther – who actually predates the formation of The Black Panther Party – hails from the African nation of Wakanda, a highly advanced civilization built around a massive meteorite made from Vibranium, the same substance used to make Captain America's famous shield. Wakanda has long been hidden from the world at large, but upon its discovery the nation's leader, T'Challa, eventually took on the superhero mantle Black Panther to defend his nation's interests. His stories have led him to join The Avengers, fight The Avengers, stave off American conquest of Wakanda, fill in for Daredevil for some reason and even marry the X-Men character Storm.

T'Challa's long road to theaters began in 1992, when Wesley Snipes first expressed interest in the project. Snipes remained involved or at least name-checked throughout the long development cycle which lastest two decades across various production companies. Last we heard, Mark Bailey had been tapped to write the most recent version of the screenplay. Bailey has previously written the scripts for documentaries like the Emmy-winning Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.

T'Challa has proved himself to be a rich, complex and capable character in the 50+ years since his creation, and in addition to providing a multicultural aspect to the Marvel movie universe, would also provide the sprawling franchise with a look at the politics of that particular world, which has previously only been hinted at in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers.

The question remains, though, whether this Black Panther movie would leave room for the Guardians of the Galaxy adaptation Kevin Feige described to us in April.

CraveOnline will be back with more Black Panther news after we stop that insufferable Klaw.